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0.0. SHELBY. '-St-ocking-Supporter.

No. 226,681. Patented April 20,1880..

N.FEYERS. PHOTO-LITHOGRAPHER. WASHINGTON, D C.

. UNITED STATES PATENT OEEicE.

CHRISTOPHER O. SHELBY, OF NEW YORK, Y.

sTocKlNG-SUPPORTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N0. 226,681, dated April 20, 1880.

Application filed January 13, 1880.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, CHRIsToPHER C. SHEL- BY, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in StockingSupportersg and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to `the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figures l and 2 are perspective views, showing the general construction of the supporter and its inode of application; Fig. 3, an edge view of the same. Figs. 4, 5, and 6 are views representing the form of the adjustable loop, the loop-button, and the loop. Fig. 7 shows a modified form of loop.

Similar letters of reference in the several figures denote the same parts.

This invention relates particularly to iinprovements in that class of stocking-supportv ers in which the main portion of the supporter is composed of an elastic piece of webbing secured at its upper end to the corset or other garment of the wearer, and having two nonelastic pieces or branches at its lower end for attachment to the stocking, the main portion of the supporter being' rendered adjustable in length for obvious purposes.

In supporters of this class as heretofore constructed the ends of the various portions of webbing have been so folded and the various nieta-l loops, slides, and buttons for securing the parts of the webbing together and attaching the supporter to the garments have been so applied as to produce projecting seams and ridges on the back side of the supporter, next the person of the wearer, which seams and ridges are a source of much discomfort andannoyance to the wearer.

The object of the pre'sentinvention is to provide a supporter which shall be practically smooth throughout its entire length on the side next the person of the wearer, wherebyT the objectionable feature of the old form of supporter is obviated; and to this end theinvention consists in a novel manner of folding the ends of the webbing and in applying" the various metal loops, buttons, and slides thereto, which I will now proceed to set forth.

In the drawings, A represents the main portion of the supporter, composed preferably of a piece of elastic webbing having one end secured to a slide, b,.and its other end passed through a link, O, and then folded back on itself outwardly and secured firmly to another slide, b', which is adapted to be adjusted up and down 011 the body of the part A. A piece of non-elastic webbing, B, also passes through the link C, and carries the upper loop, D, and loop-button E, which form the means for securing the supporter to the corset, and another piece of non-elastic webbing, F, passes.

through the lower slide, b', and carries at each end similar loops and loop-buttons, constituting the means for holding the stocking.

By adjusting the slide b up or down on the part A, it will be observed that the supporter is lengthened or shortened, and also that by reason of the end of the part A heilig folded outward and secured to the slide the inside of said part A is left without any projecting metallic portions or seams to injure the person of the wearer and annoy and render her uncomfortable.

The construction of the slide b is peculiar. It is preferably made of sheet metal struck up into the form shown in Fig. 4. In applying it to the elastic webbing A the latter is slipped through it, as shown in Fig. 3, after which the folded-back end is placed between the ears b3 b3 and pressed upon the point b2. The point is then turned downagainst the back side of the webbing, as are also the ears b3 b3, thus making a strong and secure connection without the necessity of any sewing or stitching. Ihe upper non-elastic webbing, B, is passed through the link C, leaving a short end, c', projecting at the front and a long end, c2, at the back. The long end is next folded back on itself outwardly and the loopbutton E applied, after which the base of the short end c', the extremity of the long end c2, and the part of the web which forms the backing are sewed through and through at x a', Figs. 2 and 3. The loop D is then secured to the extremity of the short endo/,fand the fastening device is complete.

The peculiar construction of the loop-button and the loop dispenses with the necessity of stitching inth'e'ii'V attachment also. The loopbutton is shown in Fig. 5 as it appears before being fastened to the webbing. It consists of IOO , arms, c c.

a central stud, e, and two laterally-projecting To secure it to the webbing it is placed upon the outer vportion of the same, near the bight or doubled end, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, with its arms e c projecting transversely. The arms are then bent down and'turned up against the under surface of the webbing, so as to hold it on tightly. As the turned-under ends lie between lthe two portions of the webbing, the surface ofgithe webbing next the person of the wearer is left smooth and unbroken.

The construction of the loop is shown in Fig. 6. 1t is provided at its base with a point, d, two upturned side ears, d d', and a wide inner ear, d2. The short end c of the webbing is pressed upon the point d, between the ears d d', and with its extremity against the wide ear d2. The point, side ears, and wide ear are then all in turn bent down against the web, making a very strong and neat connection, and without the necessity of any stitching.

Theloop, instead of being made in one piece, as above described, may consist of two parts, as shown in Fig. 7, the parts being held together by the turning down of the ears in applying the loop to the webbing.

In securing the fastening to the corset the button is placed beneath and the loopabove the lower end of it, and the two parts engaged so as to pinch the material Iirnnl;r between, as clearly shown in Fig. l. The necessity of sewing buttons or hooks onto the corset for the attachment of the supporter is thus dispensed with, and the connection is better. If, however, buttons or hooks are already on the corset, the loop may be made to engage with them, if thought desirable.

rlhe inode of attaching the fastenings to the ends of the lower non-elastic webbing is as follows: Each end is folded back outwardly at m, and then back again at n, leaving a short free end, o, to which the loop is attached. The button is applied as before described. Here again, it will be observed the inner surface of the webbing is left smooth and unobstructed, and offers no ridge or projecting metal portion to interfere with the comfort of the wearer.

The lower non-elastic webbing is capable of being adjustedy back and forth in the lower slides b, thus enabling its fastenings to be applied to the stockings at points best calculated to properly support the same.

From an inspection of Fig. 3 it will appear that all the loops, buttons, slides, Src., which form a part of the supporter are so disposed on the outside of the webbing that the whole inner surface ofthe supporter, throughout its entire length, is practically smooth and without ridges or projecting parts-a feature not believed to exist in any prior invention of this character. Even the outer side of thev supporter does not present any sharp points or edges to injure the fingers or catch and tear the clothing, all the metal parts lying dat upon the webbing.

Iclaim as my invention- .1. In a stocking-supporter, the combination of the main elastic webbing A, the slides b b', the link C, the upper non-elastic webbing, B, carrying a loop and loop-button, E, and the lower lion-elastic webbing, also carrying loops and loop-buttons, the bars of said slides being arranged to lie below the back or inner surface of the webbing, the ends of the non-ela stic webbin gs being folded outward, and the loops and loop-buttons being attached to the out-- wardly-folded ends of the webbings, whereby the inner or backside of the supporter, throughout its entire length, is left free from any projecting seams, ridges, slides, or fastening devices to annoy the person of the wearer, substantially as described, for the purpose specified.

2. The upper non-elastic webbing, B, attached to the link C by first passing it through said link so as to leave a short end, c', at the front and a long end, c2, at the back, and then folding the long end c2 back on itself outwardly, and stitching it to the other parts of the webbing at x x, and having the loop D fastened to end c', and the loop-button E applied to the part c2 near its fold, whereby the back of said webbing B, next the wearer, is left free from all seams, ends, or projecting metal portions, substantially as described, for the purpose specified.

3. rlhe lower non-elastic webbing, F, capable of adj ustinent back and forth in the lower slide, b, and having its ends folded back outwardly, first at m, then at u, and having the fastening-loops attached to portions o, and the loop-buttons near the fold m, whereby the back of the webbing, next the person of the wearer,- is left smooth and unobstructed, substantially as described, for the purpose specified.

CHRISTOPHER C. SHELBY.y

Vitnesses:

W. BLAcKsTocx, M. CHURCH.

I OO 

